


Duty/Sacrifice

by panffin



Series: Shallura Week 2016 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Mulan AU, Shalluraweek 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 00:31:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7913437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panffin/pseuds/panffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Allura is in this to defend her country from the invading Galrans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty/Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> So, when I said that I won't write another not-drabble, apparently my brain didn't get the memo. I actually planned this out to be much longer, but I was running out of time and cut a lot of scenes. It still came out a lot longer than I expected! Hope you guys enjoy!

Allura grabbed the stick that was tossed to her and fumbled a little before getting a good grip of it. She held it in her right hand, spinning the long wooden stick with her fingers. It was heavy and unbalanced, but she’s trained with worse. She looked back up to her superior, General Shirogane, and smirked. If this guy wanted to use her as a training dummy, he’s going to get a lot more than what he bargained for.

They stood 10 feet apart, bowed and prepared for an attack. They circled, staring down the other, trying to get a read on their next move. The crowd of soldiers around them was silent.

And then Allura attacked.

She aimed high and her stick clashed into his with a loud crack. She momentarily broke her concentration to check if there actually was a crack, but this was the opportunity Shirogane took to release his block and side step her as she fell forward without anything pushing against her. She recovered quickly and anticipated the swing of his own bamboo, backing away just in time.

They came to another standstill. This time Shirogane lounged in first, a lot quicker than Allura anticipated, and he swinged for her left. She just barely managed to block in time, another loud clack, before he got in another swing lower. Her body moved before she could even register, moving forward to his side rather than blocking. The move caught Shirogane off-guard and he became unbalanced when he did not hit his target. Allura got two quick jabs at his ribs, making him fall back and creating distance. The crowd cheered as Allura went in for another swing, not keen on missing out the chance to get in more hits while her opponent was still recovering.

Shirogane managed to weakly block the oncoming attack. Allura took another swing. He met it half way. And another. And another. The fight went on, the crowd cheering when one of them lands a hit, but silent otherwise, equally on edge as the fighters themselves.

“So Alfor, where did you learn to fight like that?”

Allura looked up from her meal to see General Shirogane. He had a warm smile as he invited himself to join her for lunch, putting his tray down at the seat opposite her and sitting down. Allura stuttered out, lowering her voice as she spoke.

“I trained with my father since young.” Which was true, although the truth is not what she should be saying. But then again, Allura’s cover was as a son of a blacksmith, so it wasn’t too hard to believe.

“That’s amazing. You’ve got a good grip on that stick, can’t imagine what you’d be like in a real battle.” He told her, and it sounded sincere. Allura felt a little guilt crawling in, but smiled and laughed off the compliment, if a bit too loudly. Men were always loud, though, right?

* * *

 

Their battalion was scheduled to join with a company of 100 men. When they got to the small village, they were met with smoke, rubble and the stench of the dead. General Shirogane ordered his men to search for survivors. The only one they found was a small young girl clutching General Holt’s shield. Allura took her in and they moved on to another village.

Training becomes harder. General Shirogane pushes them longer with each passing day. Every day, Allura returned to the tent she shared with Katie Holt, General Holt’s daughter. Her muscles ached and she was tired all the way to her bones. Before Katie, she had shared tent with another soldier. But General Shirogane vowed to care and protect Katie. And after the younger girl had several long private conversations with Allura, she was attached. So Allura was assigned to a new tent, larger and private, to care for Katie.

They had been sharing tent for days now, and Katie had known Allura’s secret for even longer. Katie was a smart girl and immediately recognized Allura as the daughter of King Alfor. The fact that she was even using the King’s name was a dead giveaway. Her hair may be shorter and she was much more muscular from months of training, but she was still the Allura she remembered meeting many years ago.

With the promise of the privacy in Katie’s tent, Allura allowed herself time to really relax for the first time in ages. She had to always be on edge, worried that she would let slip that she was a girl. Not only would she be charged with death, the scandal alone would leave King Alfor sicker than he already was. Allura unbound her chest and laid on the bed with only her pants and a thin undershirt, allowing herself a moment to catch her breath.

The flap of the tent opened, and Allura’s arm instantly shot out to grab her pillow to hug, an attempt to cover her breasts. Katie and General Shirogane are at the opening of the tent, neither expecting Allura inside.

There was a shocked silence. Allura couldn’t tear her eyes away from the General, praying he would pretend nothing happened. He, too, had his gaze locked on her, eyebrows furrowed and a frown forming. Katie looked back between the two, not knowing what to do. Instead of letting either adults decide, Katie started pushing Shirogane out the door.

“Out, out! Get out!” She yelled at him, trying her best to push him. He found his feet plastered, still trying to understand what he saw in front of him. A soldier who he had come to know and befriend for the past few months turned out to be a woman. Women were not allowed in the army. It could be a death sentence.

“Get out!” Katie screeched, pushing him harder. Allura peeled her eyes and turned to Katie. Shirogane did the same, his knees giving way as he staggered back at Katie’s pushes. “Out! Don’t come in. Go away!” Katie continued, pushing him out and closing the tent shut. She looked back at Allura, who was still frozen in fear, grasping at the pillow so tightly that surely it would tear to two.

Two days later, Allura was told to go back to where she came from and that she had been officially dismissed. General Shirogane did not show any signs that he knew her secret, or that he had told anyone else about it had he known. He claimed that she should take care of Katie and bring her along, seeing as to how fond the two had grown of each other. Allura knew when not to push it. She left the next morning.

* * *

 

It was several months later when they finally meet again. Allura with a sword in one, shield tossed to Katie to protect herself. Katie ran away back further into the castle, some hand maids ushering her along. Allura looked at General Shirogane on the floor, his right arm bleeding profusely, curled and bruised. He would have been screaming in pain were he not knocked out by the explosion that had lead him to his current state. She stood her ground, sizing up her opponent. Zarkon, leader of the Galrans, stood in front of her with a confident air.

“Move, princess. Battle is no place for women.” He said with a laugh, eyes already darting to the General on the floor. Allura felt her blood boil but took in a deep breath. She had to remain calm.

“As the princess of Altea, I am responsible for the lives of my people. I promise you, I will be the end of you.”

Zarkon’s eyes went back to her, finally assessing her as an opponent. And then his eyes found something behind her, and he grinned, giving a small nod. Allura’s eyes widened, quickly dodging to her right and turning to see a Galran soldier behind her, crossbow in hand and arrow flying. It was aimed at her heart, but she managed to narrowly escape it by seconds. Instead, it scrapped through her, leaving a deep gash on her left arm. It took her by surprise, her right hand dropping her sword to hold her arm in pain. She opened her hand to see the wound bleeding all over her hand.

“Take out the General.” Zarkon’s voice came.

Allura looked at the soldier who was already aiming his next shot at Shirogane. Without a second to lose, she jumped in front of the arrow, screaming as it punctured her stomach.

“Allura!” A scream came from the other end of the hall, followed by a loud thud of metal hitting flesh. Then the sound of metal hitting the floor with a loud clank. Allura held the arrow where it pierced her. Her shirt was getting soaked with blood, be it from the arrow wound or her stomach. She looked ahead as the crossbow from the soldier slid in front of her.

“Imbecile!” Zarkon shouted, enraged. Allura looked up to where he was looking - to Katie who was shaking in fear, the shield Allura had given her was on the floor next to the knocked out soldier. “You are the child of that foolish General, aren’t you? The one who pleaded for me to spare your life.”

Katie was close to tears but stood her ground as best as she could.

“Don’t you dare talk about my father.” She said, enough venom in her voice to counter how scared she looked. She didn’t even have armor on. Zarkon lifted his own sword, making his way forward to Katie.

“I’ll kill you myself.”

Allura’s eyes widened and she looked down at the crossbow in front of her. She tried to reach for it from where she had keeled over, but just stretching her arm out made her almost shout again in agony. Leaning forward had would make the arrow's end scrape the floor, pushing further into her wound and thus blocking her movement. She could feel it inside her. Allura took a deep breath and snapped the arrow without moving it as best as she could. She got onto her knees and crawled the few steps forward to the crossbow. Zarkon was close to Katie. Her hands were trembling and bloodied, unlike how she had ever seen them. Allura shot the arrow.

It soared over Zarkon’s head, who turned around.

“I had thought you indisposed. I see you are still up for a fight.”

Allura grunted, picking up another arrow, but fumbled as she attempted to equip it. Her hands were still wet and her vision was starting to get blurred. Suddenly, a sword flew at Zarkon, scratching on his face. He screamed and looked to the culprit. Shiro was gritting his teeth and breathing heavily as he kneeled on the floor, one arm almost soaked red from further opening the wounds with the throw. It was all the distraction Allura needed. Zarkon didn’t even see the arrow that shot him in the head. He fell, dying instantly.

The last thing Allura remembered before blacking out was Katie screaming for help.

* * *

 

She wakes up in panic. She needed to protect Katie, the General was injured, a raw pain on her side, arrow sticking out, she had to pull it out or else she’d -

A gentle hand slowly touches hers and her whole body flinches away. She opens her eyes, all deep breathes and ready to scream. It takes a moment to focus. She’s in her bedroom. General Shirogane is there, one hand retracted as if hurt by her reaction. However, he looked over at her with a calm understanding.

“Y-Your arm is - “ Allura croaked out, throat dry.

He looked at the bandaged stub that remained of his right arm. He didn't make eye contact with her.

“It'll be fine,” He said, voice heavy, “I'll… I'll be fine. There was no saving it.”

“But General Shi-” Allura started.

“I'm not a General. I've been given an honorable discharge.” He interrupted, “I don't have much use for them without my arm anymore.” He heaved a sigh and Allura allowed him a moment of silence. “Just call me Shiro, Alf- Princess.”

“Then you can call me Allura.” She said softly. They sat in silence, both dwelling over everything that had happened. It had been months since they last met when she was released from the army.

“You were one of the best soldiers I've ever had the chance to train with.” Shiro said, looking at her hand and his, only centimeters apart. “You… You fight good.”

Allura snorted, biting back a laugh. “Thanks, you're not so bad yourself.” And they continued to relax in shared silence, Allura’s head lolling to the side as she fell into peaceful sleep, Shiro lying his head and arms by her side, their hands loosely entangled.

  



End file.
